USL Pro's best leave a blueprint for success

Wednesday

Jul 2, 2014 at 5:06 PM

On way to MLS, Orlando goes out with a bang

By Tom Gradyjtgrady@ec.rr.com

Orlando City SC is on a mission to leave USL Pro with one final league championship before climbing the ladder to Major League Soccer for 2015. Head coach Adrian Heath and the front office have been working on this goal for some time. "Most important ... we had a vision of what we wanted the club to be," Heath said. "The plan of action was, I'm going to do everything I can to get it right on the field and the ownership are going to try to do everything they can to promote the club and to become an integral part of the fabric of this society in Orlando." Heath said his advice for the new crop of USL Pro clubs is to know what sort of organization they wish to be and put that plan to work. "It's been an incredible journey," he said. "We're on the brink of going to MLS. We're on the brink of starting a brand new stadium downtown and we're on the brink of signing one the world's great players."That player is Kaká, and it was announced Tuesday the longtime member of the Brazil national team signed a multi-year contract beginning in 2015. The standout forward's career has taken him from Real Madrid in Spain to Italy's AC Milan. Of course, Heath said the two goals for the final season in USL Pro are to win both the regular season and overall league championship. With a 13-0-3 record, the Lions are the odds-on favorite to complete both tasks. But some disappointment is still fresh, in being knocked out of the playoffs two years ago by the very team the Lions will face Thursday night at Legion Stadium, the Wilmington Hammerheads. "I think we finished 18 or 20 points ahead of Wilmington that year in the regular season," Heath said. "And then we have one bad night in the playoffs and there you go, out you go." Opposed to Orlando, Wilmington is one of the smallest U.S. markets for professional soccer. From his end of the spectrum, Hammerheads coach David Irving appreciates the success built by the Lions' organization. "All credit to them," he said. "(Team owner Phil Rawlins) had a vision and a plan and they've accomplished that. "That's good for the league, that they started in USL Pro and moved on."Heath and his club are leaving USL Pro in a era of ramped-up expansion. A new franchise in Louisville, Kentucky, will be affiliated with Orlando City in 2015."I think the league is certainly getting better and stronger," Orlando City press officer Jhamie Chin said. "I just think that the league's got a great opportunity to keep developing, on the coattails of everything else that's happening." He noted owners are battling for MLS franchises. "Everybody's always thought the game was going to take off big time in America. I just think we're very much on the threshold of that now. And I think that the USL has an important part to play in the pyramid of this system."